'I want to be here': Amid trade talk, Andrew McCutchen says he wants to stay with Pirates

Andrew McCutchen dismissed Twitter trade rumors as “nothing” Tuesday night, reiterating his stance that he wants to stay with the Pittsburgh Pirates for the remainder of the season.

“I’ve vocalized how I felt about being here and the reason why I came back. That stance hasn’t changed,” McCutchen said after going 3 for 5 with an RBI and run scored in the Pirates’ 9-4 win over the San Diego Padres at PNC Park. “I still want to be here regardless. At the same time, that’s out of my control. I can’t control that. That’s not my call. It’s not like I have a no-trade clause or anything like that. That’s not on me. All I can say is where I want to be. At the end of the day, that has nothing to do with where I end up.”

Andrew McCutchen addresses Twitter trade rumors and repeats his desire to stay and play for the Pirates. pic.twitter.com/cHBWeaysYR

— Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) June 28, 2023

MLB Network insider Jon Morosi tweeted Monday that with the Pirates “likely to be deadline sellers,” the 36-year-old McCutchen “is a fascinating trade candidate,” and the Texas Rangers were a team to watch because of their below-average production at designated hitter.

“That’s just what Twitter does, right? Twitter Twitters, right?” said McCutchen, who joked that there was a hug watch in the home dugout. “It’s nothing. You get around this time of the season, people are going to start talking. You have to kind of take it with a grain of salt. I didn’t think much about it. We just need to do what we need to do as a whole and as a club. It’s something I don’t need to worry about.”

A five-time All-Star and 2013 NL MVP who led the Pirates to three consecutive wild-card playoff berths, McCutchen signed a one-year, $5 million contract in January to return to the Pirates and is batting .278 with a .397 on-base percentage, nine doubles, nine home runs, 25 RBIs and an .832 OPS in 67 games this season.

Since being traded to the San Francisco Giants in January 2018, McCutchen has played for four teams before returning to the Pirates. He has been adamant about wanting to help build another winner in Pittsburgh. The Pirates (36-42) had lost 12 of 13 games before beating the Padres but were 4 ½ games out of first place in the NL Central heading into Wednesday’s games.

“I just need to focus on where I’m at right now: That’s here. I want to win here. I want to be here. That’s what I’m going to focus on,” McCutchen said. “Just gonna keep continuing to prepare and be here and us to try and do our best to go out there and win ballgames and get ourselves back in this race because we’re not far away from it. Anything can happen in this division. We all know that.”

Morosi suggested that a summer trade and winter reunion was an option, but McCutchen said he doesn’t know if the Pirates would give the courtesy of asking for his permission before making a trade or whether he would consider re-signing next year if dealt this summer.

“I have no idea,” McCutchen said. “I don’t really know. I’m just trying to focus on the now. The what-ifs and all that, that could just drive you into the ground and make you go crazy so I honestly don’t think about it. I just focus on where I’m at right now, with the family and kids and being here.”